Obert Mpofu's ex-employee arrested with 120kg of ivory?

A former mayor of Zimbabwe's tourist hotspot Victoria Falls was caught with nine elephant tusks weighing 120 kilogrammes and arrested with two other suspects, police said on Friday.

Sifiso Mpofu, 42, - who is the younger brother of the country's former home affairs minister Obert Mpofu - was elected mayor in 2013, serving until July last year when he lost to an opposition candidate.

He was arrested on Thursday night at his house in Mkhosana township, police said.

Acting on a tip-off, police and rangers swooped on the former mayor's house and found him and the two other suspects moving the tusks from a car, they said.

Two other tusks were found in a bedroom during a search of the house.

"Information was received that the accused were in possession of raw ivory," according to a police document seen by AFP.

Mpofu has been charged with illegal possession of elephant ivory.

He is expected to appear in court along with his two fellow suspects before the end of the weekend.

Following his election defeat last year he retreated to his game farm, Sifiso Hunting Safaris, which is situated between Victoria Falls and Hwange National Partk, the country's largest game reserve.